If the New Orleans Saints seem unbeatable at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, that's because they essentially are.

Much has been made of Seattle's dominance at CenturyLink Field, where they have won 12 consecutive games. But no NFL team has been more dominant at home than the Saints.

The Saints are 5-0 at home this season and have won by an average score of 35-15. And other than the thrilling opener against Atlanta, the games haven't been close. The Saints have trailed for only four minutes in the second halves at home, and not at all in the past four games.

The 2012 "bounty season" notwithstanding, the Saints haven't lost a home game with the Sean Payton-Drew Brees battery in tact since Week 17 of 2010. And that game deserves an asterisk since the Saints had little incentive to win the game, with Atlanta essentially having clinched the No. 1 playoff seed that season.

The last time the Saints lost a meaningful home game with Payton and Brees in tow was Oct. 24, 2010, when the 1-5 Cleveland Browns stunned them 30-17. That's a streak of 17 consecutive home games, including the postseason. All told, they haven't lost a home game with incentive and their head coach in 1,117 days.

"I think that there is an element that every team has to playing at home, starting with the crowd noise," Payton said. "I think that is significant in our case because of the indoor stadium. ... Is there an advantage to playing at home? I think there is."

Brees, in particular, thrives in the Dome. In five home games this season, he's completed 74.4 percent of his passes for 1,836 yards, 18 touchdowns and only two interceptions for a passer efficiency rating of 129.8. In four road games, he's completed 60 percent of his passes for 1,228 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions for an 84.6 rating.

In the Saints' 49-17 win against Dallas on Sunday, Brees extended his NFL-record streak to 21 regular-season home games with at least two touchdown passes, all at the Superdome. That is the longest streak of games with multiple touchdown passes by any player at any venue in league history.

Of course, myriad reasons exist for the Saints' success. The climate-controlled conditions are perfect for their precision, high-powered passing attack. The din of the sellout crowd allows Saints defenders a split-second advantage on snaps. And of course, there's an inherent advantage in the familiarity of lighting and atmosphere.

"I've talked to guys around the league, and they don't want to come here and play, especially late in the year," Saints guard Jahri Evans said. "Our fans are awesome, and our defense feeds off the crowd."

The postseason only enhances the experience. The Saints are 4-0 in playoff games at the Superdome and 0-3 outside of it. It's no coincidence that their lone Super Bowl appearance came in the season they had home-field advantage in the playoffs.

"I think it's important for any team, certainly it has served us well," Brees said. "It's something you always strive for. ... Unfortunately we haven't been that successful on the road in the playoffs as we have at home, but it's not like we dread going on the road. Not one bit."

The Saints last playoff game was one they won't soon forget: a heartbreaking 36-32 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, their opponent this weekend. Sunday's winner will have a leg up in potential playoff seeding tiebreakers. So, too, will the Saints' and 49ers' games against Seattle in Weeks 13 and 14.

The 49ers are 13-6 on the road under Coach Jim Harbaugh. They won their first four road games under him in 2011 and have won three straight on the road this season since losing their road opener in Seattle.

Asked Wednesday to compare the challenges of playing in Seattle and New Orleans, Harbaugh deferred.

"I think you know," Harbaugh said. "I think it is pretty obvious, (Seattle) is a pretty loud environment. What is New Orleans like? A pretty loud environment."

Ten notes and observations about the New Orleans Saints as they prepare for their Week 11 game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday afternoon:

1. Dome Patrol II?

Vic Fangio knows a thing or two about great linebackers. From 1984 to 1996, he coached the New Orleans Saints' famed Dome Patrol, arguably the greatest set of linebackers in NFL history.

Now he serves as the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, which feature the best current group of linebackers in the NFL. Inside linebacker Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman and outside linebacker/rush specialist Aldon Smith are Pro Bowl players. And Ahmad Brooks is a salty veteran who would be a star on most teams.

"The Dome Patrol was great," Fangio said. "In their time, they were definitely the best linebacking group in the NFL, and to this point, are probably still the best."

Fangio believes the 49ers foursome can rival the Dome Patrol in time.

"If they can stay humble and hungry and we can keep it together for seven years or close to that, I think I'll have a favorable response to that question," Fangio said.

2. Young Guns

The concussion Kenny Vaccaro suffered against the Cowboys will likely prevent a matchup of top rookie safeties on Sunday. Vaccaro and LSU's Eric Reid were the top-rated safety prospects in last year's draft. The Saints selected Vaccaro with the No. 15 overall pick. Three slots later, the 49ers took Reid. Both have started from Day One and made immediate impacts.

"He's blessed with a lot of ability," 49ers Coach Jim Harbaugh said of Reid. "He's very sharp. He learns well. He doesn't repeat mistakes."

Vaccaro ranks third on the Saints with 58 tackles and has added a sack, an interception and five passes defensed.

Reid has three interceptions, six passes defensed and a fumble recovery. He, too, has suffered a pair of concussions this season, but the Baton Rouge native said he is looking forward to his homecoming and playing against the team he rooted for as a kid.

"This is part of my dream -- to get to play in that stadium against Drew Brees and the Saints," Reid told the Sacramento Bee on Wednesday.

3. By The Numbers

Drew Brees continued his assault on the Saints and NFL record books last week against the Cowboys. A look at some of the milestones he reached:

Brees' four touchdown passes increased his career total to 349, moving him past Tom Brady into fourth place on the NFL's career list.

The four-touchdown game was the 23rd of Brees' career, tying him for second in NFL history with Brett Favre. Only Peyton Manning (26) has more.

Brees' multiple-touchdown game was the 107th of his career. Brees trails only Favre (159), Manning (144), Dan Marino (127) and Brady (111).

Brees' 300-yard passing game was the 74th of his career, second in NFL history to Manning's 80, and his 67th in 120 career games as a Saint.

Brees started the game 2-for-4 before completing his next 19 passes, tying his own Saints franchise record. Brees finished the first half 26-for-30 for 252 yards and three scores. The 26 first-half completions matched the highest total in the NFL this season.

4. Four-Minute Mastery

With Sean Payton and Drew Brees, the Saints have always put an emphasis on scoring at the end of the first half, sometimes even using timeouts that end up helping the other team. But that's just the aggressive nature of the Saints in trying to execute their four-minute drill.

Scoring at the end of the first half has proved to be key to the Saints' success this season, according to research by Times-Picayune section editor Gene Guillot. In their past five wins (Cowboys, Bills, Bears, Dolphins and Cardinals), the Saints have scored at least one touchdown in the last four minutes of the first half. Against the Cowboys and Bills, New Orleans scored two touchdowns in that span. And if you stretch it to the last six minutes, they scored twice against the Bears as well.

On the other hand, the Saints failed to score in the final four minutes against the Jets and Patriots, both losses. In fact, it was the Jets doing damage late in the opening half, scoring two touchdowns and turning the game against the Saints.

The Saints have scored 90 points in the second quarter this season. Their second-most points in a quarter is 60 in the fourth.

5. Encouraging Stat of the Week

The Saints have an 88.2 percent chance of making the playoffs and need to win three of the remaining seven games to be virtually assured of a playoff berth, according to the analytics of www.MakeNFLPlayoffs.com. The liklihood of the Saints winning the NFC South division is 64.6 percent.

6. Discouraging Stat of the Week

Garrett Hartley has missed four of his past six field goal attempts, making him just 16-of-22 for the season. His 72.7 accuracy rate is the lowest in the NFL. Payton said he's still confident in Hartley's ability, but the club worked out five kickers on Tuesday in case Hartley doesn't come around and they are forced to make a change.

7. Uniformity

For the second consecutive week, the Saints will don their all-black uniform combination, black jerseys and black pants.

"The history of professional football is one long connection between coaches and quarterbacks, and these two are in almost perfect continuity. When I think of Vince Lombardi, I think of Bart Starr. When I think of Chuck Noll, I think of Terry Bradshaw. When I think of Tom Landry, I think of Roger Staubach. And now, when I think of Sean Payton, I think of Drew Brees. They are better together. And what they've been able to do this season? It's pretty special." -- ESPN NFL analyst Jon Gruden, in an ESPN Magazine feature story by David Fleming about Sean Payton and Drew Brees entitled "You Complete Me."

10. Fearless Prediction for Week 11

The Saints owe the 49ers. The losses from the 2011 and 2012 seasons are still fresh in their memory banks. Now, for the first time, the Saints get the 49ers in the Superdome with Payton and Brees battery operating at full throttle. San Francisco is an excellent road team and they'll be motivated after last week's ugly home loss to Carolina, but the Saints know what's at stake and take care of business. Saints 30, 49ers 23.